A conventional computerized environment may include computers which periodically backup their information to a backup site. In such an environment, each computer is typically equipped with a backup service which sends information to be backed up to the backup site at periodic intervals (e.g., daily, hourly, etc.).
To equip the computers with the backup services, a backup technician (i.e., a designated IT person) typically installs backup service software on each computer. One conventional backup service software package includes a random number generator routine to provision each computer, during installation/setup time, with a random number which uniquely identifies that computer to the backup site.
After a computer has backed up information to the backup site, if an operator of the computer wishes to restore certain information from the backup site to that computer, the operator requests a username and password from the backup technician. The backup technician then assigns a username and a password to the operator. Using the username and the password assigned to the operator by the backup technician, the operator then logs into the backup site from that computer and directs the backup site to restore that information back on to that computer.